Senate panel OKs secret school safety plans

Sacramento  Every California campus has a school safety plan that lays out emergency strategies on how to surreptitiously communicate with police and which escape routes should be used if the unthinkable occurs, from a Columbine repeat to a terrorist attack.

But anyone — from a revenge-seeking student to a bitter divorced parent determined to kidnap their own child — is legally entitled to view and copy those plans under California’s Public Records Act.

Alarmed that student safety could be compromised with the release of that information, the San Diego Unified School District is sponsoring legislation to seal the most-sensitive parts of the safety plans.

San Diego officials contend the threat is all-too-real. In 2004, a complete set of district school safety plans were found on a computer disk in Iraq. In 2001, two Santana High School students were shot and killed by another student. And in 1999, two outcasts methodically planned and carried out the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado.

“We don’t want to help out those who would harm our students by giving them our plans in advance,” said Jesus Montana, the campus police officer at Clairemont High School.

San Diego is even more exposed to terrorist threats given there are an estimated 12,000 students from military families enrolled in the district. Recently, the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, a potential target given its role in transporting the body of Osama bin Laden for burial at sea, was docked at North Island Naval Air Base, close to Coronado schools.

The measure would allow top district administrators to craft the most sensitive tactical responses in secret, outside the more public school site council process. Those tactical responses would include strategies to safeguard students and staff, secure the campus and apprehend the suspect or suspects.

“The public interest is not served if this sort of sensitive information is disseminated broadly,” Superintendent William Kowba said in a letter to the committee. “In the hands of the wrong person, this information could help an aggressor strategize an attack on a school and its students.”

Block, in testimony urging support for his Assembly Bill 680, noted that safety plans were first implemented to guide staff and students during natural disasters, such as earthquakes or fires.

“Times have changed,” said Block, noting Columbine and the general rising level of violence on campuses and growing threats of terrorism.

Plans to respond to natural disasters would still be made public, school officials stressed.

“We just don’t want to give away our playbook,” Montana said.

Parents would still be alerted in times of crisis via email and phone calls, officials said.

There was no opposition voiced before the committee. However, details of the bill were just unveiled earlier this week so opponents may emerge later in the process.

Sen. Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, was the lone no vote. He did not explain why but had expressed reservations earlier over a late amendment that allowed a teacher’s union representative to be involved in drafting the tactical responses. A spokesman later said the senator wanted to tighten language that appeared loosely defined to allow a "designee" to tak ea teacher's spot.

The 7-1 vote sent the bill to the Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee.